DS refusing to take PCR - negative LFT’s

[Squealy]

DS 21 went to our local city on a night out last Saturday.

Monday, common cold symptoms started, he took an LFT which was negative. He continued to get worse, really runny nose, hoarse voice, sore throat at times, disturbed sleep due to coughing etc.

Work require him to have a weekly LFT, it was carried out at his workplace Wednesday morning when he was very symptomatic, again it was negative.

All week long I’ve asked him to get a PCR as LFTs aren’t that reliable and he’s refusing, says that LFTs aren’t that unreliable and spouting a load of maths stuff about the chances of 2 LFTs being wrong.

I’ve tried to explain that maybe they were done too early in the course of the illness to pick up anything - he’s still coughing now, very disturbed sleep, streaming nose etc.

He’s such a stubborn bugger, he says there’s no point in testing now anyway as he’d be almost out of his isolation at this point anyway.

How accurate are LFTs and could he actually be positive? DH and I are both double jabbed and DD only had her 2nd jab a few days ago. I guess the rest of us would be showing symptoms by now though?

Maybe it’s worth the rest of us doing LFTs in case we are asymptomatic?

@Squealy

DS 21 went to our local city on a night out last Saturday.

Monday, common cold symptoms started, he took an LFT which was negative. He continued to get worse, really runny nose, hoarse voice, sore throat at times, disturbed sleep due to coughing etc.

Work require him to have a weekly LFT, it was carried out at his workplace Wednesday morning when he was very symptomatic, again it was negative.

All week long I’ve asked him to get a PCR as LFTs aren’t that reliable and he’s refusing, says that LFTs aren’t that unreliable and spouting a load of maths stuff about the chances of 2 LFTs being wrong.

I’ve tried to explain that maybe they were done too early in the course of the illness to pick up anything - he’s still coughing now, very disturbed sleep, streaming nose etc.

He’s such a stubborn bugger, he says there’s no point in testing now anyway as he’d be almost out of his isolation at this point anyway.

How accurate are LFTs and could he actually be positive? DH and I are both double jabbed and DD only had her 2nd jab a few days ago. I guess the rest of us would be showing symptoms by now though?

Maybe it’s worth the rest of us doing LFTs in case we are asymptomatic?

Mine LFTs were negative for 5 days but I knew I had COVID by my symptoms. On day 6 it was positive and that was backed up by my PCR.

@Watapalava

he doesn't have covid symptoms

Yes he does! Sore throat, coughing and runny nose! These are Delta symptoms and were most certainly my symptoms when I tested positive!

@GreenLakes

The thing is a ‘runny nose’, ‘sore throat’ and ‘hoarse voice’ are not symptoms that justify a PCR test.

Er, yes they are.

@Watapalava

Cough and continuous cough are different

The flow chart diagram issued by nhs says cough with cold symptoms doesn’t need test

My cough wasn't continuous....it was intermittent. I had COVID!

@BluebellsGreenbells

I knew LFT aren’t for symptomatic people, it picks up infection early when you are less likely to spread the disease.

Not true! Mine took 6 days to show a positive when I knew I had COVID as I started feeling under the weather. My son already had and I was already isolating!

@OrangeBananaFish

when I got covid LFT came up positive and I had symptoms (not the main 3, but headaches, muscle aches, fatigue etc) so the bit about about them not working when its too late is bullshit. Of course they can be false negatives, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they are definitely false negatives

Exactly! Not sure where people get these ideas from! They are for asymptomatic and symptomatic people!!

I've had sore throat, husky voice, now lots of sneezes and snotty nose, feel really under the weather. Have done an LFT every day since I felt unwell and a PCR because the Zoe Covid-19 study asked me to and everything has been negative. I think there are lots of colds around now because we have opened up so quickly. I was completely paranoid and have stayed home apart from work (and masked/distanced there) but it's just a cold. Very annoying, don't like it at all!

@Watapalava the point is that these rules are from last year and desperately need updated as the Delta variant has been clearly shown to have different starting symptoms to the original variant that was dominant last year! Especially among younger people.

And Delta is the one spreading now. The Govt strategy is failing in this respect and letting it spread (which I assume is what they want, otherwise they would have updated the info - many schools, companies, health boards, have updated their advice!) even the Zoe app seems to finally be catching up to these new symptoms.

If he has had disturbed sleep due to coughing I assume he had coughed more than once during the night, therefore he has a symptom of COVID

The definition of coughing for COVID can include 3 or more bouts of coughing in 24 hours. Doesn’t mean you have to be coughing all the time

@BluebellsGreenbells

NHS clearly states they are for people without symptoms

Of coarse there’s going to be a cross over

No, they are being used for people without symptoms in the U.K., they are designed to be used by people with symptoms. There is a difference.

I’ve not heard the thing about viral levels being too high before. It doesn’t sound right. LFTs notoriously unreliable at low viral levels because they need a high viral level.

They are for asymptomatic and symptomatic people!! Government guidance is that you should use LFT if no symptoms, PCR if you have symptoms. That's because PCR is more sensitive, ie will pick up more cases (or, equivalently, have fewer false negatives). If you don't have symptoms then LFT is quicker and much cheaper, but that's not the same as saying it won't work if you have symptoms.

No, they are being used for people without symptoms in the U.K., they are designed to be used by people with symptoms. There is a difference. Excellently put.

@Squealy

He’s just done another LFT as I was keeping on at him. Negative again thankfully. It is very likely he does have a heavy common cold. It’s crazy how common colds didn’t almost die out too, how did they survive through the lockdowns. Same as covid I guess, the lockdowns didn’t eradicate those (sorry, just think out loud)!

I was listening to one of the scientists a couple of weeks ago on the BBC an they were talking about how we are more likely to catch the common cold / Flu and it is more likely to be worse then before as we have become immunosuppressed as were haven't been around them for the last 2 years.

So yes it maybe Covid 19 but also just as likely to be any of the other Corona Cold/flus that are around.

@Watapalava

People need to stop making up the rules

Whether anaecdotally or joe blogs who works for boots says that cold symptoms are symptoms of delta, that is not the rule

We know how much Mumsnet loves covid rules so maybe try following them

Except cold symptoms ARE the same symptoms for Delta!

If you are on the Zoe app and you tock symptoms of sneezing/ runny nose/ congested they will suggest a PCR.

**tick

I knew I had Covid by my LFT before I had any symptoms.

User

Not according to government advice

@Watapalava Have you ever considered why the government have not updated their symptoms list for delta even though it's widely been acknowledged that cold, headache, sore throat are very common in positive cases? Perhaps it's a convenient to keep case numbers artificially low, keep up the community spread, nothing to see here people, everything's going wonderfully.

Whether cold symptoms should be included is irrelevant in this case as the person has a cough, so has a symptom already on the list

[quote SilverGlitterBaubles]@Watapalava Have you ever considered why the government have not updated their symptoms list for delta even though it's widely been acknowledged that cold, headache, sore throat are very common in positive cases? Perhaps it's a convenient to keep case numbers artificially low, keep up the community spread, nothing to see here people, everything's going wonderfully. [/quote]
It seems to be an MN thing that people worry about the 3 official symptoms though, everyone I know gets one if they think they need one.

Is there any evidence from the on going random sampling that the dfference between their results and actual tests has changed since Delta became dominant?

Friend of my DS just back from Reading. Cold symptoms. 3 LFTs, all negative and got a positive PCR.

@Preg19 @bonbonours @Sleepyblueocean @NeverTalkToStrangers @NeverTalksToStrangers @HipHopBanzai @Bizawit @MereDintofPandiculation @hippychick10 @RafaIsTheKingOfClay

I probably worded that too severely… it’s not that an LFT will definitely give a false negative, some people with symptoms obviously do test positive. But my understanding is that there’s a reasonable chance you would get a false negative if testing on an LFT with symptoms, depending on viral load. Which is why you’re supposed to get a PCR and not rely on the results of an LFT if you have symptoms.

See link to explanation (on instagram) by a BBC / BBC Radio Scotland doctor, which I found useful.

www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3OTA3MzgzMDEyMDI2OTQx?storymediaid=26186869133740182371774749386&utmmedium=share_sheet